The Many Benefits of STEM Education

If you’re concerned
that STEM is taking up too much classroom time, consider this: STEM permeates
the curriculum in ways subjects taught in isolation can’t. STEM also teaches
the skills students need for success beyond their formal education.

Teachers know
that they have to take advantage of every minute of instructional time they can
get with students. STEM programs, with their integrated lessons, seem to usurp
a considerable amount of instructional time. That can lead to arguments about
pulling kids away from traditional subjects like science and math.

However, STEM
offers students experiences they can’t get in traditional classrooms. STEM
integrates learning through interdisciplinary studies. It affords the
application of 21st-century learning skills. And finally, STEM teaches resilience.

Interdisciplinary
learning

How many
times have students asked why they have to learn something? They don’t
understand how their topic of study relates to the real world beyond their
classroom walls. Instead, students bemoan having to learn something they assume
they’ll never use again.

STEM isn’t
something that’s taught in addition to science and math. It is science,
math, technology, and engineering, too. STEM classes give students opportunities
to engage in relevant hands-on lessons that make learning meaning and
memorable.

21st Century skills in
every lesson

If you’re
looking to instill 21st-century skills your students need to
be successful, STEM provides a way to practice these skills. Critical thinking,
collaboration, communication, and citizenship become more relevant in a STEM
classroom.

The STEM
environment is often a makerspace that hums with purposeful activity. Students
create hypotheses, questions, and test them. They seek out team members who can
offer diverse and unique solutions when problem-solving. Learners communicate
with peers and other Subject Matter Experts. During these learning experiences,
the participants must practice digital citizen skills thanks to their use of
technology.

Resilience
that moves learning forward

Ultimately,
STEM teaches that failure is okay. Not every experiment goes as planned;
innovations aren’t always successful. STEM activities help students learn to build resilience. They discover that
making a mistake is not the end of an academic career. Instead, an error can
lead to other possibilities waiting to be explored.

Perhaps more
important than other reasons for teaching STEM in school is that it’s cool. Students find it far
more interesting to explore and create in STEM classes than to read a textbook
and answer questions at the end of each chapter. STEM fosters curiosity and
inquisitiveness that many subjects taught in isolation can’t do. Furthermore,
STEM requires hands-on use of technology.

STEM teaches
students the skills they need for future learning and work. IT ought to be a
mainstay in every school.

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